Q&A: Wolfgang Puck, Now of Top Chef

Wolfgang Puck's reputation as a chef and personality speaks for itself. Since learning how to cook in an apprenticeship, he's run acclaimed restaurants around the world for the last forty years. He's catered the Oscars. He's voiced a Smurf. He can make great omelets, and isn't afraid to let you know it. And, this season, he's one of the judges on Top Chef, after many years as a guest. Between his accent and his gregarious demeanor, he was easily the most interesting part of this season's premiere. "This stove is like a woman: It never does what it's supposed to," he said, chuckling, while his chefs struggled. Puck is an old-school type you can admire, if not always embody. We spoke to him recently about that, his new TV role, and what's next for food.

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ESQUIRE.COM: What was the worst thing you ate this week?

WOLFGANG PUCK: What I don't like is breakfast in the morning. I have a double-espresso cappuccino, but no food.

ESQ: That's odd. In this season's first episode, you made a perfect omelet. It was the first challenge you gave.

WP: Well, you can eat an omelet at midnight, at lunchtime, all day long. It's perfect for every occasion.

ESQ: What's the one thing you cannot mess up with omelets?

WP: Omelets are about technique. Now, different people make it different ways, but, if you're a chef in Europe, an omelet has to be cooked on the outside, with just a simmer of color, and the inside has to be soft. It should be cooked like a steak — medium rare. The outside is cooked, but the inside is nice and creamy. You have to cook it fast.

ESQ: It was a great first test. What can we expect going forward?

WP: It's an interesting thing, Top Chef. Some of the contestants will make you one great dish, and then make you something on the next show that will make you say, "Is that the same person?" One of the things I've found now, not just for television, but in the restaurant, is that you have many anxious chefs, who know how to cook twenty recipes really well, but they don't have a good foundation for other things. To make mashed potatoes, or french fries, or eggs sunny-side-up, you know right away how good they are. Or not.

ESQ: What did you learn from judging this season?

WP: It's easier being a judge than a competitor. If you are young, you depend on that show taking you really far. It might change your career completely. As a judge, you don't have any risks. That makes it much more enjoyable.

ESQ: From those first few episodes, with overcooking running rampant, it seems like it was easy to tell the good from the bad.

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WP: I don't think we had many disagreements. Some were very good, and some were quite mediocre.

ESQ: What can we expect from the returning contestants from past seasons?

WP: They have experience already, which might be good. I hope that they put enough drama in there.

ESQ: You've been a working chef first, and a celebrity chef for so long. What have you learned from your decades of doing that? How have things changed?

WP: America has undergone a total food and wine revolution. When you looked back thirty years ago, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese were a novelty. When you went up to Napa, you had maybe forty wineries, and now you have hundreds. They all do better than ever. Television in the '80s was very limited. There was no Food Network. When I opened Spago, I had the kitchen in the dining hall. It was probably the first restaurant to do so. The dining scene became more casual. All these cooking shows have transformed our profession one-hundred percent. Thirty-five years ago, being a cook was the same as being a used-car salesman.

ESQ: What's the next step in this food revolution?

WP: It was a revolution, but now it is an evolution. People know more ingredients, people know more techniques, and people look for more ingredients they've never looked for before. In the '80s, you couldn't find raw tuna in any restaurant that wasn't Japanese. Now, you can't find any restaurant without it or sashimi. Food television opened the eyes, and palates, of our guests. They became more adventurous.

ESQ: So have the chefs. You did a little voice-acting in that Smurfs movie. Would you do it again?

WP: I won't quit my day job. I like restaurants. I don't do a lot of television, either, even though people come to me with projects all the time. I have to spend time in the kitchen.

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ESQ: What do you like to cook for dinner at home?

WP: I have two young boys, and my wife is at home. Most of the time, I will cook the food, and we'll eat together. The kids love vegetables, so we always have really good ones straight from the farmer's market. We steam them with a little olive oil, and a little truffle salt on the top, and if it's beans, broccoli, or asparagus, we'll cook them. We might have pasta, some fish, or risotto, which the kids love, too.

ESQ: You're opening new restaurants around the world. Can you give us any details about those?

WP: We opened Cut in London. We are working on different projects in the Middle East. The first one will probably be in Doha. And maybe Bahrain. And then also in Shanghai. We just remodeled Spago. We reopened and changed the way we serve food here. I wanted to serve smaller portions — not tapas or anything — but, instead of people getting the traditional appetizer and main course, why not have two or three appetizers with a main dish about the size of an appetizer? That way you can choose.

ESQ: What do you want to do with the Middle East and Shanghai locations?

WP: Just like when a new shopping mall opens, they want a recognizable brand. We have Cut in Singapore, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, and London. So they want a Cut, or a Spago. They want a brand, not a new restaurant. I think that's the way it should be. We might adapt a few of the dishes for the taste there, but, mostly, it will be our menu.

ESQ: You've got a cookbook coming out next fall, too?

WP: It is going to have healthy food and exercise mixed together. With smaller portions, and more exercise, you live a better life. I went skiing five or six years ago, and I said, "Wow, I'm going to have to give up skiing," because it was so difficult. I used to be so exhausted. Three and a half years ago, I started to exercise. Now I ski better than I did twenty years ago. That's the new book.

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ESQ: What's the Wolfgang Puck regimen like?

WP: I have a coach. He comes to my house, and we do it here in the living room. I have some weights and boxing gloves. I do push-ups and squats. Doing cardio with the weights strengthens your whole body.

ESQ: And the recipes?

WP: For example, you can eat a Caesar salad and say, "Wow, I ate so healthy today." You forget there was a quarter-cup of oil in there, and all the calories are from fat. So it's better if you eat a grilled chicken breast, some steamed brown rice, and a little salad with balsamic vinegar on top. You get protein, so you won't feel hungry right away, and you get less calories from fat.

ESQ: What was the best thing you ate last week?

WP: Some scrambled eggs with white truffles. Just a small portion. I like to finish it and say, "I would like another bite of that."

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